Marvin Young (born May 10, 1967), better known by his stage name Young M.C., is an English-born American singer, rapper and actor. He is best known for his 1989 hit "Bust a Move". His debut album Stone Cold Rhymin' found international acclaim; however, subsequent albums have not reached the same level of success. Young has also appeared in film in acting roles and cameo appearances and has appeared in several television programs.

Life and career

Young was born in London, to Jamaican immigrants. He left England at the age of three and moved to Queens, New York, when he was eight years old. Young attended Hunter College High School in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He went on to earn a degree in economics from the University of Southern California (USC).[1] At USC he met Michael Ross and Matt Dike from the record company Delicious Vinyl.[1] Young rapped over the phone for Ross and Dike, who ended up delivering a record contract to his USC dorm room. In 1989, Young collaborated with Tone Lōc on the songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina".[1] Young gained fame with the release of his single "Bust a Move", which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. The single helped Young's debut album, Stone Cold Rhymin', to reach No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and attain platinum status in the US. The follow-up single, "Principal's Office", reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100[2] and was nominated for Best Rap Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

Following Young's success, he left Delicious Vinyl, citing restrictions on his work and unwanted changes to his album. The label sued him for breach of contract and the two parties eventually settled out of court.[1] Young signed with Capitol Records and released his second album, Brainstorm, in 1991. It reached No. 66 on the Billboard 200. Despite the absence of any strong single, the album achieved gold status in the US.[3] However his third album, What's the Flavor?, released in 1993, was a commercial failure, with both the album and its singles failing to chart. It was his second and final album on Capitol Records. In 1997 Young released his fourth album, Return of the 1 Hit Wonder, on the independent label Overall Records. The album produced two singles, "Madame Buttafly" and "On & Poppin" which charted at No. 25 and No. 23 respectively on the Hot Rap Songs chart.[2]

In 2000, Young released his fifth album, Ain't Goin' Out Like That, on his own record label Young Man Moving Records. The album was Young's first to chart since Brainstorm, peaking at No. 85 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[4] In 2002, he released his sixth album, Engage the Enzyme.

In 2001, Young contributed a song "Deck the Halls" he co-wrote with Kevin Irving to Disney's TV Movie "'Twas the Night"

In December 2004 Young traveled to Vancouver to commence shooting for the film The Zero Sum. As an actor Young played Mr. Henderson, a publishing company executive. Film director Raphael Assaf and screenwriter Armen Evrensel asked Young to help create the film, for which he is a co-executive producer. Young also teamed up with Baltimore rapper KNOXX to create "Brotherly Love", the film's theme song.

After 20 years of living in Los Angeles, Young relocated to Scottsdale, AZ in 2006. He spent 2007 creating his seventh album, Adrenaline Flow, which was released in 2008. Immediately following Adrenaline Flow, Young released an online-only album, B-Sides, Demos and Remixes, compiled from unreleased, remixed and re-recorded tracks.

In 2009, Young released his eighth album, Relentless. Later that year, Young also landed a cameo role in the Jason Reitman film Up in the Air starring George Clooney. Young played himself, performing at a software convention which was crashed by Clooney’s character and those of his two female co-stars, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.